Kent man accused of duping woman after online meeting

Published 5:51 pm, Sunday, January 5, 2014

A Kent man accused of cleaning out a woman he met online after persuading her to empty her savings for a trip to Vegas now faces theft charges.

King County prosecutors contend Efrem Menegesha – or “Josh” on the Plenty of Fish dating service – tricked the woman into withdrawing $8,500 to leave Washington and then stole the money from her home. Menegesha, 24, is alleged to have apologized to the woman by phone after fleeing to Florida.

The Bellevue woman told met Menegesha in June 2013 while surfing the dating site. They started dating and saw each other regularly, though she never learned his last name.

In September, Menegesha told the woman he was going to sell his car and move to Florida, stopping in Las Vegas for a month on the way east, according to charging papers. The woman offered to pay her way to go with Menegesha, and pulled $8,500 out of her bank account on Sept. 6 to do so.

“Josh” met her at her home that evening, where they shared a meal with the woman’s roommate. According to charging papers, Menegesha stole the money from the woman’s purse and fled while she and her roommate were eating outside.

“She got a bad feeling about it so she went and looked in her purse,” a Bellevue police officer said in court papers. “The $8,500 was gone.”

The woman then discovered “Josh” had cleared all the text messages from her phone. She dialed his number and found his phone had been turned off.

“She was extremely embarrassed that this happened and that she fell for him,” the officer continued in charging documents. “She said she can’t believe she didn’t even know his last name.”

Police were able to determine “Josh’s” true identity; the woman subsequently identified Menegesha as her boyfriend.

The officer called Menegesha, but received no response. Instead, Menegesha is alleged to have called the woman and promised to pay her back.

Menegesha has been charged with first-degree theft. He is not currently in custody.